This May, the Monroe County Farmers’ Market will re-open. You will practically be able to taste the freshness in the air. Each Saturday during spring and summer, in downtown Stroudsburg at the courthouse square. The Market will operate with various vendors offering everything from honey products to jams, vegetables, cheeses and yogurts (which are new this year). Saturday mornings will be a fine day to stroll about the Square, and speak with the local people who cultivate the offered wares.
“It has been a long-time running, well-established, and well-attended market,” said president and organizer Liz Balchin, who is excited as the annual market heads into its 43rd year. She indicated the pandemic could not stop this tradition, as “we followed the Pennsylvania guidelines for outdoor spacing.”
The market’s season will begin on May 7th and end on the last day of October. All the vendors must come from Monroe and surrounding counties that directly border Monroe. They must also feature locally sourced ingredients. Balchin also said that the market will feature live music. In addition to vendors like Apple Ridge farms, known for their fresh meat, eggs, and baked goods, and Cafe Duet’s fresh coffee, one can also find all-natural dog biscuits from Bandit Bones and jams and maple syrup from Dutch Hill Preserves. “New this year,” Balchin said, “is Cranberry Creek Farm, which offers cheese and yogurt.”
Chocolate lovers will certainly want to head to the South East area of the Square, where they will find Free Spier Chocolates, which has a reputation for having the best in handcrafted chocolates around. Nearby is Kilhaney’s, offering freshly made pickles, and both vendors hail from New Jersey.
Balchin is proud that the years have “cultivated us as a community-emerged market” and will, as usual, offer mushrooms and other fresh meats from her own Four Fields Farm.
You’ll find holistic herbal remedies, all-natural dog treats, organic wines, and fresh ice cream, not to mention the friendly smiles of the people who have worked so hard to bring such a joyful variety of healthy foods grown or cultivated to perfection, each and every week. There is no better break from the prepackaged, fast-food mentality of everyday life than visiting the market and trying something that comes directly from the hard-working hands of those selling their products.
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